Rizwan, Haris, Shaheen rise in ICC T20I rankings

Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan, Haris Rauf and Shaheen Shah Afridi made big gains as the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced its men’s T20I ranking updates.

Batting rankings

Rizwan moved up three spots to enter the top-five, his best-ever in the shortest format, after scores of 79* and 33 in the first two T20 World Cup matches against India and New Zealand. The wicketkeeper-batsman currently sits at number 4 with 727 points.

England’s David Malan and Pakistan skipper Babar Azam maintain their first and second spot, respectively. However, the gap between Malan (831) and Babar (820) has reduced to just 11 points, thanks to Pakistan captain's performance against India.

A fifty-plus score in the next game could help Babar take the top spot in the T20I batting rankings.

They are joined in the top five by South Africa’s Aiden Markram (743), Rizwan (727) and Virat Kohli (725) in that order.

All-rounders

No Pakistani all-rounder could make it to the top ten list, as Bangladesh’s seasoned campaigner Shakib Al Hasan reclaimed the top spot on the back of his brilliant start to the T20 World Cup.

He gained 20 points in the all-rounders' list to reach 295, his personal best, moving past Afghanistan’s Mohammad Nabi, who slid from 285 to 275 points.

Bangladesh, who defeated New Zealand and Australia in their backyard ahead of the T20 World Cup, had to play a qualifying round to reach the Super 12.

The top five all-rounders are Bangladesh’s Shakib (295), Afghanistan’s Nabi (275), Namibia’s J.J Smit (161), Australia’s Glen Maxwell (161), and Oman’s Zeeshan Maqsood (160).

Bowling ranking

On the bowling front, Afridi (596), who rattled the Indian top-order with a magical bowling spell on Sunday, jumped 11 places to reach the 12th spot.

Haris Rauf (563), Player of the Match against New Zealand in Sharjah, moved up 20 spots for a career-best 17th place.

Among others, Bangladesh’s Mahedi Hasan (621), and Australia’s Josh Hazlewood (557) were the big movers.

Interestingly, all top-five spots in the bowling chart are occupied by spinners with South Africa’s Tabraiz Shamsi (750) on the top, followed by Sri Lanka’s Wanindu De Silva (726), Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan (720), England’s Adil Rashid (712), and Afghanistan’s Mujeeb Ur Rahman (693).